Abstract
Critical thinking is one of the most highly sought skills in education, yet questions remain about instilling students with this elusive set of skills and dispositions. Is it generalizable or discipline-specific? How should it be taught? This article describes an approach by two middle school teachers who developed and taught an in-person and virtual humanities curriculum. They utilized an instructional routine involving discussion and writing to help students comprehend and think critically about challenging, disciplinary texts. Opportunities for discussion and writing before, during, and after reading allowed for scaffolded, deeper understandings of the texts.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Pamela Brunskill
Pamela Brunskill, MEd, is a PhD student in Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning (CISL) at the University at Buffalo. E-mail: [email protected]
John Z. Strong
John Z. Strong, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Learning and Instruction at the University at Buffalo. E-mail: [email protected]